Posted on 04/19/2018 6:58:29 PM PDT by Ezekiel
Information is pouring in, I'm trying to absorb and disseminate as fast as I can... Later...
Regarding Theophilus, here's something much less complicated:
Apart from its use as the name of a mark of punctuation ('), the term apostrophe is used for a kind of formal invocation. Sometimes the invocation is to an absent (or even dead) person: "Milton," writes Wordsworth, "thou shouldst be living at this hour;/ England hath need of thee." At other times, an inanimate object can be invoked: "O you gentle day sky!" Apostrophizing an inanimate object may involve personifying it.
With its roots in Greek drama and the Greek language (meaning ‘turning away’), apostrophe is the rhetorical act of addressing a third party in a speech or piece of poetry or prose.
http://apostrophe.guide/apostrophe-as-figure-of-speech/
The word is used here:
Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Which is quoted from
Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Okay that was a detour but I tossed that in because it goes back to the same root word of turning as in 70 for the age of turning.
My point about the apostrophe pertains to Theophilus because the name means "Friend of God", so who was he..
2 Chronicles 20:7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
Isaiah 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Luke 1:3-4 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
That’s interesting. I’d never heard of the Pirkei Avot. I’ve just picked up a little bit about Jewish writings here and there. I wonder what full strength means there. Perhaps where a man is still physically strong but also has gained some spiritual wisdom.
That’s interesting about apostrophe. About Theophilus, that had been my understanding about who the Gospel was written to, that he was the “friend of God.” I hadn’t thought much about what “most excellent,” having run across nothing about it, but now that that article pointed out that it was most likely a title given to a leader, I’d have to agree. I’m not sure if you agree with that or not. Then the article argues that traditionally it’s been thought that the official must have been a Gentile, maybe in part because Luke was, but it’s still interesting that Theophilus was also the name of a high priest of that time, even of the family of Annas and Caiaphus if I recall from the article correctly, and a possibility worth I think looking into. In any case, though, it was certainly not by chance that the man’s name was Theophilus.
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Excellent-Most-Excellent
My point was simply that we *know* that Abraham = friend of God. And as as far as an exalted, "most excellent" Biblical character, Abraham is right up there at the very top.
Meaning Luke could have been addressing Abraham through the literary device of apostrophe, and it would make plain sense based on what we actually do know.
Compare:
Luke 1:3-4 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
And
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
In the days of Herod, physical reality had finally caught up with what Abraham had already seen and believed.
Oh yes, I understand. I just think that because “most excellent” was an actual title and Theophilus the name of a high priest that it’s worth keeping that possibility in mind.
As already stated, at the age of the reunion with Joseph he was 130, which is "70", because that's the value of the letter (word) ayin (עין), which is 70.
And here in Pirkei Avot 5:21 age 70 is the age of turning [gray].
[To correct an error, I should have noticed that the word for "hoary head" is prounced as seivah not sheivah. I hate when I miss that stuff. Dings my credibility. The root and other related words for turning are pronounced with the sh, but I should have caught the difference. It's always something.]
Anyway, in the Torah account ahead of the reunion, Jacob says to his sons (re Benjamin),
Gen 38. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone; if harm befall him on the journey that you are to make, then shall you bring down my gray hairs [seivah] with sorrow to Sheol:
Judah then later speaks to Joseph, quoting Jacob's words:
Gen 44
29. And if you take this also from me, and harm befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol:
30. Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life:
31. It shall come to pass, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and your servants shall bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol:
32. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, If I bring him not to you, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever:
33. Now therefore, I beg you, let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brothers:
34. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest perhaps I see the evil that shall come on my father:
45.1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me; And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers
Several ups and downs in all that. The 'lad' Benjamin was 30 years old at the time (the age for full strength/power - koach), according to the tradition of Rachel's death being in year 2208.
70, the age for turning:
45:27. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: (came to life)
"Born again" - going from death to life.
70, Right Triangles and the 50th Gate of Understanding -- Return (Teshuvah)
Pythagorean Theorem (a natural rule of this world)
a2 + b2 = c2
a = 49
b = 50
c (see) = 70.00714
Only God can move a person from the 49th to 50th gate (level of purity).
"Triangulation (surveying) is a process used in surveying to determine unknown distances, angles and positions from those that are known."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_(disambiguation)
Above Nature
We have noted that 50 represents the full journey toward acceptance of Torah in the 50 days bridging Pesach and Shavuos. The passage through life calls for the Jew to emulate the national passage to Sinai. He must proceed until the natural end – and then go beyond it. He must transcend the finite and touch the sublime 50th gate that belongs over and above the natural rules of This World.– 50: at a distance
The number 50 is used as the measure that places something at a distance.
A triangle is made of corners (פינות) for turning, especially because the sum of the internal angles is "180 degrees", meaning to turn the opposite direction: teshuvah
The journey around this particular triangle (the perimeter) is 49 + 50 + 70 = 169 units of measurement (yechidat, yechidot midah), singular unit: yechida.
measure, character (midah, pl. middot)
By exploring the 49 middot throughout the seven weeks of the omer, we can prepare ourselves to become a fitting vessel to receive the Torah.
169 = 13 x 13 = echad (one) "squared", ahavah (love) "squared" [corrected, set right].
Two points define a line; three non-linear points define a plane.
Deu 19.15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; by the mouth (פה) of two witnesses, or by the mouth (פה) of three witnesses, shall the matter be established:
Corners, mouths, angles are interlinked in the original post. Two corners [of the mouth], double pei (code). "Al pi" (על-פי) (upon the mouth of) = 190 = keitz (end). Two = 380 (Mitzraim, Egypt), and 3 = 570 (sha'ar, gate)
1, 2, 3... 1140 = "when you shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer 29:13)
Jer 29:13 And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart:
70 is the measurement [midah] for turning.
To begin to find success or improvement after a particularly difficult or troubling period.
Fig. to pass a critical point in a process.
Pass a milestone or critical point, begin to recover.
If someone or something turns the corner, they begin to recover from a serious illness or a difficult situation.
pass the critical point and start to improve.pass the most dangerous point of an illness or the most difficult part of something, and begin to improve:
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/turn+the+corner
Only God can move a person from the 49th to 50th gate: 49 + 70 + 50 = love squared, meaning set straight. Turned 180.
Psa 118: 22-23 The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner: This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes:
Rabbi Eliezer says, “How do we know that a maidservant at the sea beheld that which even the prophets—including Isaiah and Ezekiel—never saw? As it is said: When I spoke to the prophets; for I granted many visions, and spoke parables through the prophets (Hos.12:1). And it is written: The heavens opened and I saw visions of God (Ezek.1:1)...when the Holy One revealed Himself at the Sea...as soon as they saw Him they recognized Him and all opened their mouths and proclaimed: This is my God (Ex.15:2) (Mekhilta Shirata 3).
The greatest prophets saw God only in “visions.” The Israelites saw God directly and could point to God. To translate this into our terms, the people of Israel had an experience of God that was overwhelming. They felt themselves to be in God’s presence and to have experienced God’s salvation directly. They were closer to the Divine than at any other time.
We may well ask ourselves, “What actually happened at the sea?” Was there a sudden strong wind?
http://www.torahaura.com/Bible/Learn_Torah_With/LTW_5761/LTW_5761_Beshallah/ltw_5761_beshallah.html
"squared away": in proper order or arrangement.
How do we know that a maidservant at the sea beheld that which even the prophets—including Isaiah and Ezekiel—never saw?
A "right" triangle: 49 squared + 50 squared = 4901, 49 and one.
"Now I know my A B Cs.."
And Andrew Wiles....
God Bless and preserve Israel.
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